Patchouli Imperial by Francois Demachy for Christian Dior 2011

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Post by Portia

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Hi there Fragrant Family,

Since we’ve been back from holidays I have spent a little time hunting through the decant/split section of my collection. There is so much choice here, enough for three lifetimes of fragrant addiction that unless I really set out to search the outlying areas things get forgotten. I remember trying today’s fragrance once when I bought this decant and being sadly unimpressed but last night I gave it a spritz before bed and this morning I still smell beautiful. softly tinted with the scent of …..

Patchouli Imperial by Christian Dior 2011

Patchouli Imperial by Francois Demachy

La Collection Couturier Parfumeur Patchouli Imperial Dior for menFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Sicilian mandarin, Calabrian bergamot, Coriander, Indonesian patchouli, cedarwood, sandalwood essence

So I wore Patchouli Imperial again today, all day, and I’ll be wearing it to bed again tonight. In 1.5 days I’ve gone through about 4ml of my 10ml decant. That’s some serious fragrance use. Why? Because suddenly I have fallen madly in love and it’s so absolutely wearable. It was perfect last night as a sleep scent, today while blogging and organising stuff. It was also a winner to go to the physio and shopping afterwards. Then tonight my BFF Kath and I went and ate a WHOLE PEKING DUCK with pancakes, greenery and Hoisin sauce. OMG! I’m so freaking full right now, you have no idea.

Patchouli Imperial DIOR autumn-winter-2016-17-ready-to-wear-show DIORDIOR

How does it smell? Well, the citrus burns off fairly quickly and a waxy, woody, green-but-not patchouli that reminds me of the SJP Lovely patchouli/musk but a little more barber shop styled. The woods are there too but in a just polished retro furniture way. The whole fragrance smells smooth, stylish and uncomplicated; more of a fragrant wash that a loud signature statement.

Patchouli Imperial smells to me like a perfect office scent. It is fragrant but not overbearing, could be quite ambient until you get in really close and realise that freaking amazing almost smell is this person. I could also imagine it haunting someone who smelled it on you afterwards. Doomed to be forever seeking that perfect and unattainable fragrance that was once smelled on this person at work, in a restaurant or at a party. Great fragrance to leave on a lovers sheets too.

Patchouli Imperial DIOR Coincidental Dandy No Rules Britannia Stella Tennant DIOR FlickrFlickr

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies and Olfactoria’s Travels
Available at DIOR stand alone stores, large department stores and now big airports (ask)
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3.25/ml

Are you a patchouli fan? Which of the DIOR Privé line do you love most?
Portia xx

 

L’Occitane Collection de Grasse Discontinuations

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Post by Portia

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Hey Crew,

It’s a sad day when the discontinuations are whispered around the frag FB pages. Just this week I got word that the Collection de Grasse is going to have most of its fragrances cut and their body products. GAK! I loved this line so much and regularly spritz and use the shower gels. I even went to the Australian L’Occitane website to panic buy and a couple of the things I love are already gone. It means In Store Shopping required.

L’Occitane Collection de Grasse

Discontinuations

I don’t have supported evidence but word on the FB pages cites rising costs, drop in sales volumes and some other things I don’t remember. I get it, you’re a business. Still I’m a little sad. Ambre & Santal, Vanille & Narcisse, Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc and most of the rest are on the chopping block. Get in quick if any of these are favourites.

Cèdre & Oranger Collection L'Occitane

Cedre & Oranger goneVanille & Narcisse L`Occitane en Provence Fragrantica

Vanille & Narcisse gone

One bright light is that one of my favourites is staying: Neroli & Orchidee is keeping its place in stores and I have bought a back up of the fragrance and two of the shower gel. That should see me alright. Also Green Tea & Bigarde and Jasmin & Bergamot are staying, so if these are your Go-To fragrances then you are safe.

Néroli & Orchidée L`Occitane en Provence 1 FragranticaNeroli & Orchidee stays

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but there is also good news. I am reliably told that there are a slew of fabulous new fragrances coming through for Christmas 2016. Looking forward to that.

What is your favouritre L’Occitane?
Portia xx

Coccobello by James Heeley for Heeley 2013

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Post by Poodle

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It’s painfully cold out. I’m not going to say its freezing because we dropped below that about 30F degrees ago. The wind is making it feel worse but by the time you read this I will be slightly warmer I hope. I’ll be heading towards spring and you folks down under will be trying to hang on to your summer.

Coccobello by Heeley 2013

Coccobello by James Heeley

Coccobello James Heeley FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Palm leaf, gardenia
Heart: Coconut, sea salt, vanilla
Base: Virginia cedar, benzoin, sandalwood

I knew nothing of this scent when I received it in the mail. I glanced at the name and gave it a spray expecting something gourmand with either cocoa or coconut, something cozy to warm my heart. What I wasn’t expecting was a blast of green and saltiness. Oh sure, there’s some sweetness in there as well but instead of a warm fuzzy blanket, Coccobello is a trip to the beach.

Coccobello Heeley palm-leaf-background PublicDomainPublicDomain

Coccobello opens with the smell of crushed palm leaves. It’s potent and a bit harsh at first. Don’t go sticking your nose into it just yet or you might go running for the sink to wash. If you hate green notes the opening might be a little difficult but it doesn’t linger here for long before some other notes shine through. The coconut starts to emerge but it is also green and unsweetened. It’s not the coconut oozing with sugar that I’m used to smelling. There’s a faint gardenia note but it’s quite subdued and never enters big white floral territory. It adds sweetness but not in a sugary way. Now drench all that with salt water. I smell a hint of cedarwood as well. At no point do I think dessert, cocktails, or anything fruity which is the usual direction of beachy tropical perfumes.

Once my initial shock of it not being a sweet gourmand wore off I enjoyed Coccobello as a beach scent. As you wear it the perfume loses the sharpness of the palm note and takes on the aroma of sun warmed skin cooled by salty water. It calls to mind Bronze Goddess by Estée Lauder but Coccobello seems far more unisex to me. Guys, if you’re looking for a coconut scent that isn’t too girly this might be it. For those of you who find typical beach or tropical perfumes too sweet, fruity, flowery, or aquatic I think Coccobello might be worth a sniff. I will say again that that heavy green up front might be a deal breaker for quite a few folks. I know salt is also a love/hate note for a lot of you too. This is a grown up tropical scent and I think it deserves more attention than it gets but I can understand it will be challenging for some.

Coccobello Heeley tropical-beach skeeze PixabayPixabay

Coccobello reminds me of summer, suntan lotion, and the beach. Right now all of those things seem worlds away.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Scent for Thought
LuckyScent has $180/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5.40/ml

What perfumes have you tried that were completely different from what you were expecting?

Hugs
Poodle

Wearing Perfume: Different Ways of Testing

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Post by Tina G

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Hi APJ!

I’d like to talk a bit about how fragrance application can have a pronounced effect on how it presents on your skin. It is one of the reasons that it is usually worthwhile to test a fragrance a few times to get to “know” it before making judgement calls.

Wearing Perfume: Different Ways of Testing

Burlesque by Maria Candida Gentile 2015

Burlesque Maria Candida Gentile FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Blood orange
Heart: Iris pallida, rose
Base: Incense, patchouli

Maria Candida Gentile – Burlesque is a case in point. It was put onto my fragrance radar by Tara from A Bottled Rose, and it sounded like my kind of thing, so a sample was ordered.

On my first two spritzes I held the nozzle close to my arm with a heavy application. And the results were horrifying. All I got was an insipid limp wet patchouli with a hint of smoke in the background. I quite like patch, but there was nothing nice about what I was smelling. It was less ‘Burlesque’ and more ‘fetid water nymph’. One of my written notes was “try a lighter spray”. So I did.

A gentle swish of a spritz at a distance, and wafting my arm through the residual aerated fragrance was a totally different result. At once I could smell a warm rounded orange, which was totally absent previously, and it came through with a fab sexy powdery iris and sweet pink rose. That brought a smile and a nod – so that is what this fragrance is all about! It was balanced very differently, warm and inviting with the patchouli grounding it instead of swamping (good word, actually…) and the pale smokiness bringing an interesting dimension to the whole picture. Really gorgeous and very wearable.

There are some fragrances which are better dabbed – for me most of the Serge Lutens work really well like this, even though they come with sprayers. Of course, be really wary of spraying Parfum strength *anything*. I’ve done serious (temporary) damage to my nose trying this approach. Unless it is a Vero Profumo in which case they are designed for spraying. (and if you’ve never tried any of Vero’s fragrances, drop everything and order samples NOW).

Chimaera by Paolo Terenzi for Tiziana Terenzi 2014

Chimaera Tiziana Terenzi  FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Black pepper, lemon, saffron, leather, tolu balsam, thyme, bay leaf, soil tincture
Heart: Iris, red pepper, carnation, peony, honey, magnolia, sage
Base: Patchouli, cashmere wood, labdanum, benzoin, caramel, agarwood (oud), tobacco, canadian balsam, leather, pine tree

Another worthwhile trial is to give fragrances a run through in different seasons. Something which does not work for you in summer may be altogether fabulous in winter. Tiziana Terenzi – Chimaera is like this for me. In winter it is complex and kinetically marbled with a lemon and honey keeping a weaving thread through leather, bay and basalm. I found at four wonderfully distinct stages during dry down – so exciting! In summer, on my skin it turns into a gourmand thick with caramel and saffron, the honey and lemon are still present but it is much more linear and to my nose not so interesting.

Have you had any successes or failures with your fragrance testing? What have been the lessons learnt?

Tina G xx

Taormine by Yann Vasnier for Keiko Mecheri 2010

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Post by Portia

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Hi there Fragrance Family,

It’s still high summer here in Sydney, 7am and already a humid 22C/72F. We have a ceiling fan in the bedroom and even under that I found it sweaty. So I jumped out of bed (let’s face it, no use lying there grumbling and I know myself well enough to know that there will be no sleep till this afternoons nana nap) and wandered my perfume library looking for a spritz of solace. I was tempted by Amouage Lyric Man, DIOR New Look 1947, JHaG Anyway, Byredo Black Saffron and Cacharel Liberté yet none of them were exactly what I was looking for. Then my eyes alighted upon the Keiko Mecheri boxes, I have two that are summer all over for me Un Jour d’Ete and the one I chose…

Taormine by Keiko Mecheri 2010

Taormine by Yann Vasnier

Taormine Keiko Mecheri FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Sicilian petitgrain, Calabrian bergamot, Italian citron, bitter almond, aromatic chord, floral notes, leather

That was three days ago and since I’ve worn nothing but this weird salty citrus beauty. There’s not much to say about it really except it goes on all salted citrus, like drinking salty lemonade in India. It stays that way for a while, sweet and refreshing with a side swipe of sweaty. Like a salty Shalimar light.

Then it morphs into something a little bit more biscuit based, like lemon meringue pie eaten in a brand new leather chair.

Taormine Keiko Mecheri  sea-beach-sun-sunshine PexelsPexels

I know that as a review this completely sucks the weiner but that’s it in a nutshell and I freaking LOVE IT. Taormine is excellent. I’m sweltering in 36C in the shade here and the only thing cooling me down is a spritz from Keiko Mecheri’s Taormine.

Further reading: Olfactorialist
LuckyScent has $140/75ml + Samples
Libertine has $279/75ml + FREE Australian Shipping

Have you tried it?
Portia xx

Naomi Goodsir Interview

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Post by Ainslie Walker

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“A perfume can be viewed as an invisible accessory. It is a personal choice which creates a statement of style”
Naomi Goodsir

Naomi Goodsir is a tremendously talented Australian, taking the world by storm with her couture designs – hats, bags, body accouterments…and since 2012 niche fragrances.

Fantastic news in February, when I spent an afternoon with her in Sydney, was that her most recent release, Iris Cendré had been announced as a finalist for the Fragrance Foundation Awards, France (THE FIFI’S) in the Prix des Experts category!! Naomi has no idea how it was chosen as one of the top 12 out of 350 entries as usually one must nominate their own fragrance and yet she did not. Perhaps she will find out who the mysterious initiator was when she attends the awards in mid April for the big announcement! (I have my fingers crossed for her)

Naomi Goodsir Interview

Naomi Goodsir:Ainslie Walker 2016 #1

Naomi Goodsir:Ainslie Walker 2016 #2

The fragrances are currently available in 28 countries, here in Australia Peony Melbourne has carried them since 2012. In fact Naomi tells me proudly that Jill was the first buyer in the world to order any of her fragrances, recognizing instantly their beauty and appeal.

Originally studying fashion design in Sydney, Naomi worked her way into millinery, molding, stitching and creating her pieces by hand. She relocated to France, near Grasse to be near her life and business partner Renaud.

Today her creations are in demand, with Naomi also collaborating with designers for their collections, fashion catwalks including Kanye West’s in Paris, window displays and National Opera Houses. From 2008 Naomi expanded into handbags and body accouterments fashioned from luxe raw materials including buffalo/veal/cow/goat/kangaroo leather, horse hair, lace, felt, silk, feathers, barramundi, crinoline, Bakelite, American alligator skin, and Australian and African crocodile skin.

Naomi Goodsir:Ainslie Walker 2016 #

Naomi and I discussed her process for her perfumes, where she collaborates with independent master perfumers Julien Rasquinet and Bertrand Duchaufour. She says, like with her designs, she always starts with a raw material she loves and ideas develop from there. The raw material provides texture and inspiration and further ingredients add layers, similarly to when she creates her hats and bags. With Cuir Velours, it was leather, immortelle, rum, with Bois d’Ascèse it was incense, tobacco and whiskey, Or du Sérail, which featured on the cover of Fragrances of the World 2015 annual, features golden honeyed tobacco and Iris Cendré, of course has delicate orris at the core.

Naomi Goodsir:Ainslie Walker 2016 #4

Naomi was wearing Bois d’Asèse when I met her and divulged the very personal and moving story behind the scent. Its inspiration coming from the warm incense smells she remembers from within a church in the rural NSW town of Coonabarabran – the last place she visited with her dad before he passed away. It also embraces the scent of bushfire from her childhood memories. When I sprayed her personal bottle on my arm we both observed the “fatherly” aspects -my skin amplifies oakmoss and I did feel a warm sense of fatherly comfort.

The following day I wore Cuir Velours from a handmade gift Naomi gave me and I texted her saying “I feel I have awoken, bewildered and happily crawled out of one of your giant leather handbag creations into a boozy dream…complete with immortelle stuck in my messed up hair!” She replied with “A wonderfully apt description- the labdanum, rum et immortelle work perfectly together- a ‘bon mariage’ “ (yes she is beautifully spoken and fluent in French)

Naomi Goodsir:Ainslie Walker 2016 #5

Her next release is collaboration with Isabel Doyle, Annick Goutal’s in-house perfumer which they have been working on for some years and are calling it Nuit de Bakelite for now.

Fascinating and elusive, usually Naomi avoids the camera, however she agreed to just a few just for me to share and even shared with me her very first selfie!!

Have you tried the fragrances from the collection? Which is your favorite and why?

Tranoï Paris 2016: Photo Essay

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Post by Portia

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Hey APJ Crew,

One of the great things about being in the frag crowd is getting to do things that few other people do. An invitation from a frag buddy can turn out to be something incredible. One of our great holiday highlights was hanging with the cool niche crews at Tranoï in Paris.

Tranoï Paris 2016

Tranoï Paris 2016Tranoï

 Tranoi Paris 2016 #1

At the entrance I was met by Nicolas Chabot of Le Galion, he had invited Jin & I to come see the show and have some fun with the crew. Suitably attired with my PRESS PASS it was inside to the enormous room and the entryway was an aisle of some of Europe’s Independent Fragrance Houses. WOO HOO!

Tranoi Paris 2016 #2

Tranoi Paris 2016 #3First stop was Le Galion, Nicolas and his partner Enno. They are a freaking RIOT! Here they are showing me the new range and they gave me a slew of stuff for giveaways. Coming very soon. My current favourite is Cologne Nocturne, a lush cologne that suits me to a T.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #4

Here with Roberto Greco who is the creative genius behind the Le Galion advertising and product look. He was really sweet and I admit to crushing on him madly.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #13

Tranoi Paris 2016 #14

I really like Laboratorio Olfattivo’s clean style and want to spend some more time sniffing their brand. The couple I have smelled were YUMMY!

Tranoi Paris 2016 #7

Woo Hoo! Neela Vermeire was there. So excited to see her and hang out. Any time in Neela’s company is good time. Her frags were very popular on the day and we had to leave her to the retailers and come back at intervals for mini chats.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #6

Tranoi Paris 2016 #5

Tranoi Paris 2016 #9

The gorgeous Ulrich Lang was there too with his girl friend Erin. I noticed Lightscape before I noticed them and exclaimed how much I love it. Ulrich was thrilled and we spent a very happy half hour or so laughing and having a fine time, Neela wandered over because we were making so much noise. It was a really nice moment captured with some lovely people. We will be having a super Ulrich Lang giveaway soon here on APJ so keep your eyes peeled.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #10

Tranoi Paris 2016 #19

Tranoi Paris 2016 #11

Tranoi Paris 2016 #8

Tranoi Paris 2016 #15

OMG! Really? Pierre  Guillaume is here! WOO HOO! I’ve been freaking crushing on him for YEARS! The sea of people parted, he looked across and our eyes met, Pierre smiled an uncomplicated welcome and I was lost. Absolutely fucking lost. He had all his ranges there but was hoping to gain more interest in his Pierre Guillaume Croisiere Collection. They are at the freaky end of the fragrance spectrum and I didn’t really feel able to focus to smell anything because the man’s charisma had me firmly in its grip.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #16

Tranoi Paris 2016 #17

Tranoi Paris 2016 #18Pierre tried to get my opinion on his newest from the PG range but my head and nose weren’t communicating. To be honest I had to get away because I couldn’t breathe or make coherent or cogent conversation. Ha Ha Ha What an ass-hat I am.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #20

Tranoi Paris 2016 #21

Histiores de Parfums are so freaking cool. I love the way they make fragrance and the display was fun too.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #22

After the event we went out to dinner at a super cool restaurant with Nicolas & Enno, one of my buddies happened to be in Paris too (Hey Andrew) and he came and joined the crew. As I was recounting my Pierre G story to the table none other than Mr Pierre G walked in with his partner & some mates and so he got to hear the end of my story before I knew he was directly behind me smiling from ear to ear. He’s cool, I like him.

Tranoi Paris 2016 #23

Tranoi Paris 2016 #24

After that we were absolutely smashed and went back to our hotel and slept like dead people. Our first full day in Paris was done.

LuckyScent, Libertine, Peony Melbourne and First In Fragrance have loads of the houses in stock, Surrender To Chance has samples.

I hope you liked the post, which of these fragrance houses do you like?
Portia xxx

Jocelyn Fullerton: Cult Of Scent Afternoon

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Post by Portia

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Hi Independent Perfume Lovers,

Cult Of Scent is becoming quite the Independent Perfume Lovers rallying point here in Australia. Unusual, flirty, intoxicating, raw, surprising, mischievous, flattering, elegant and amazing are all words my friends and I have used to describe the work of Jocelyn Fullerton, nose and creator of Cult Of Scent. Hedonist is the only one I’ve reviewed on APJ yet but there are a couple more that I have been sampling and adore.

Jocelyn Fullerton: A Cult Of Scent Afternoon

Learn The Range With The Perfumer

Jocelyn Fullerton A Cult Of Scent
Imagine the chance to be walked through the Cult Of Scent range by the woman who created the fragrances. We will be treated to some of the major component parts of the fragrances and some of the fillers, hear Jocelyn’s story behind each creation, how she arrived at her finished product and get to know a lot more about the process of creating fragrance. We will also hear about Jocelyn’s trajectory from regular person to perfumer and be given insight into that path.

I, Portia, will be providing a lunch of sandwiches, fruit and cakes. There will be champagne punch on arrival and tea/coffee/water available throughout.

We have a maximum number of 12 guests so I would urge you to book as early as possible.

Where: Portia’s apartment in Parramatta
When: Saturday March 19 2016 11.30am arrive for a 12 noon sharp start -3pm
Cost: FREE

CONTACT TO BOOK: Cult Of Scent
Please leave your name and phone details in the Contact Form. First 12 in get the seats.

Can’t wait to see you guys.
It will be our first event after arriving home from Europe and it will be a lovely fragrant housewarming too.
Please come.
Portia xx

 

 

By Night Black by Profumi del Forte 2009

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Post by Portia

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Hi the Fumies,

I remember trying this a while back but have no memory of the scent. I’m surprised that it wasn’t written about because I love the Profumi del Forte line in general, they are lavish new looks at old ideas. Something about the line smells distinctive and quality to me. It’s weird that I don’t own a full bottle of one yet, Versilia Vintage Ambra Mediterranea is my favourite of the line but it never seems to last till checkout in my cart.

By Night Black by Profumi del Forte 2009

By Night Black Profumi del Forte FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lime, cypress, mandarin orange, orange, fig leaf, basil, juniper, bitter orange, rose hip, lavender, cypress
Heart: Pine, mate, jasmine, incense
Base: Cedar

A warm, herbal cologne. Singing top notes that are high citrus & woods with a marked creaminess, a pithiness, a dry and warm undercurrent that By Night Black’s notes give me no reason to expect. Very urbane, I can imagine it on a well dressed business person who wants to smell a little outside the box but not outrageous. Maybe it’s the mate that’s adding the creamy warmth. I’ve only drunk it once at Roxana Villa’s place and my memory is of a creamy green drink that was sweet and lightly tea-ish, more like a smoothie. The jasmine definitely is playing a smoothing role too though the heart, which is lovely. Gaia in her Non Blonde review is saddened that By Night Black is not interesting enough, I can’t say I have the same sense of let down. There is plenty of nuance and interesting by play for me. Maybe because my expectations were so low it smells better than I expected?

By Night Black Profumi del Forte Rajeev_Pillai WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

So while I’m falling asleep about an hour after this application I notice that By Night Black has collapsed into something that I know but can’t place, like an everyman’s dry down. A woodsy scent that leads my mind to the 1990s/early 2000s gym locker rooms. I’m falling asleep so it’s a passing thought and then it’s morning.

Next morning I awake and there is something a little off left on my hand, it’s a woodsy/fishy/salty/sweet/decaying scent that while being very light still manages to make me feel uncomfortable and run to the bathroom to wash my hand. So freaking weird. The end.

By Night Black Profumi del Forte Fish Head Beatrice Murch FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Non Blonde
First In Fragrance has €168/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/ml

Obviously you may have an entirely different wear and there has been some nasty reaction with my chemistry. It did freak me out a bit this morning though. I couldn’t get my hand under the tap fast enough.

Have you ever had a frag turn feral? Tell us the story please.
Portia xx

Dorina by Nejla Barbir for Dorin Perfumes 2015

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Post by Robert Herrmann

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I will be the first to admit that I can be very finicky when it comes to Iris-centric scents. I loves me some Iris, oh yes I do. Growing up, when the Iris’s came into season, we always had a vase full somewhere in the house, a tradition I have yet to outgrow. (Ditto with Tulips, but that’s another story). There are only a handful of Iris perfumes that I truly love. Dorina is very quickly moving up that list.

Maison Dorin was founded in the 18th century and became quite a favorite of the court of Versailles. As other perfume houses came and went, Dorin stayed ahead of the game, by constantly embracing new emerging technologies, ultimately building a lab in Paris that was the envy of competing perfume houses for decades to come. Re-energized by new owners in 1998, Dorin continues to produce gorgeous perfume, cutting no corners and never scrimping on the finest ingredients and beautiful bottles.

Dorina, released this year is classified as a floral woody musk and is Dorin’s tribute to the noble Iris.

Dorina by Dorin Perfumes 2015

Dorina by Nejla Barbir

Dorina Dorin FragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rice flower, rose, aldehydes
Heart: Iris, water jasmine, violet
Base: Vetiver, cedar, heliotrope, musk, tonka bean, iris, resins

For all the notes in the formula, Dorina smells like IRIS, or rather a dreamy sun dappled Monet watercolor of the perfect Iris. Floral? Yes and sweet at times but never cloyingly so. Just beautiful, deep and sensuous Iris, root! stem, leaves and bloom. Powdery but never loud and screechy, just resplendent with quality and that certain “je ne sais quoi” through and through.

Dorina DorinDonated Robert Herrmann

From the Dorin site: “ON STAGE OR OUT ON THE DOWN, DORINA SPARKLES WITH THE LIGHT OF A THOUSAND FLAMES.”
This powdery iris fragrance has been created as a tribute to those most rare women who have become timeless icons.

Secretively screened from view by the opaque glass of the bottle, this sophisticated fragrance is the perfect accompaniment to every aspect of a talented and daring woman’s life. From home to the red carpet, she is elegant whatever the occasion.

With 28 perfumes in the range, I can’t wait to get my nose around some of the others!

Dorin has a Retailers Page where you can find your countries stockists

What are some of YOUR favorite Iris scents?